Yelp Partners With GoFundMe — Just How Creative Can Businesses Get?

Yelp on Tuesday announced a partnership with GoFundMe to provide a fast way for independent businesses to get donations through their Yelp Pages. The aid aims to support those affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The move follows the company’s pledge last week to donate $25 million in advertising and services aid to struggling businesses.

Links to a GoFundMe fund-raising page will begin appearing today on the Yelp Pages of many eligible U.S. businesses, beginning with some in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Eligibility requirements include companies claiming their business on Yelp by March 22.

The businesses operating in the restaurant, food, nightlife, beauty, spa, salons or active, with some exceptions, will begin seeing a “Donate” button that links to a GoFundMe fundraiser.

During the next couple of days, Yelp will add the fund-raising button to the page of eligible businesses nationwide.

Yelp also will offer up to $1 million in total matching grants from the Yelp Foundation and GoFundMe.

eMarketer released numbers in March 2020 that suggest slower digital ad growth for the hospitality industry, from 16.7% in 2020 to 14.9% in 2021. The analyst firm said it will update its numbers in May.

Businesses are getting creative finding new sources of revenue. The hospitality industry has slowed or stopped advertising and begun to lay off thousands of employees, but one Swiss luxury hotel in Zurich, Zug and Lucerne turned its boutique hotel into a COVID-19 quarantine apartment where those willing to pay $822 per day can rent out its rooms and get meals delivered. Virus tests are included.

The Le Bijou, which calls its service a quarantine apartment, has also partnered with a private Swiss health-care service to offer guests twice-daily nurse visits and the virus test for an additional cost.

Here’s a special shout out to all the creative businesses, the grocery clerks, the baggers, the shelf-restockers, delivery companies, logistic teams and drivers, U.S. mail personal, UPS and FedEx drivers, and everyone willing to give up a portion of their life to stay home and self-quarantine for themselves and others during these trying times. Send me a note if there is something you want me to look into or cover.